Reading the newspapers in the past few weeks, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the entire US female population, no matter what their political convictions, has lined up to get on the Sarah Palin bandwagon. As a Swede who moved to New York in my early 20s, my heart has been sinking with every Gallup report published, showing a swing toward the McCain-Palin ticket.

There have been columns by renowned feminists like Gloria Steinem protesting Palin's feminist credentials, but my fear was that that would only fuel the anti-elitist movement: "Oh, just another 'intellectual' who doesn't understand the everyday life of ordinary American working-class mothers."

Then, the other day, something amazing happened. A chain email from a friend landed in my inbox. It originated with a couple of ordinary American female citizens who had been offended by the Republican spin doctors' assumption that women would automatically swallow any old slogans and policies, just because they came out of a woman's mouth.

The email was very polite, apologising for any offence it might cause to anyone disagreeing with their opinion. They said that they had no big organisation behind them and that anyone replying would not be put on a mailing list - they had just felt such an urge to make their voices heard (and to find out if anyone else felt the same way). After getting several hundred replies within a few days, they decided to create a blog as a forum for likeminded women, called Women Against Sarah Palin.

Reading the posts on the website, it's immediately apparent that thepicture that's been painted by the Republicans and much of the media is not an accurate one. Remarkably, many of these posts are written by women from small towns in red states who identify as mothers, grandmothers, Republicans, Christians – even pro-lifers. Yet they are all strongly against appointing a vice-presidential candidate with such grave inexperience and divisive views as Palin.

Their quotes are incredibly articulate, eloquent and furious. Hereare excerpts from a few of them:

"I am a fiscally conservative, socially liberal Republican. I am aghast at the choice the Republican ticket has made in Sarah Palin. … I am so ashamed to be a Republican that I have re-registered as a Democrat this year because, frankly, they are more like original Republicans anyway (less government, more power to the people)."-Susan W, 65, Flagstaff, Arizona

"First I want to say that I am an evangelical Christian southern female who opposes abortion. However, any seriously thoughtful Christian will admit that this is only one of several Biblical principles and no one candidate nor political party owns a consistent Christian platform. I am writing to state in the strongest of terms that I am appalled at the choice of Sarah Palin as the Republican VP nominee. … Palin's smugness, arrogance and lack of humility further guarantee that her election would continue our country's disastrous course of the last eight years under the Bush-Cheney administration."-Susan M, Maryland

"If I wanted to live in a theocracy, I'd move to Iran. This nomination is McCain's way of patting us all on our little heads and saying, 'There you go, honey! Now don't worry your little head about this government stuff.'"-Christin R

"I was raped at age 18. I was not impregnated but had I been I believe I am owed the choice to decide on motherhood. Palin stands for the destruction of choice. She is a contradiction in every aspect of the word. Please do not elect this woman as VP. Please."-AT, 19, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Judging by the steady stream of "information" churned out byRepublican spin-doctors, Palin's been the saviour of her home state, Alaska. But even Alaskan women have felt the urge to protest this assumption by staging a protest in Anchorage - despite being bombarded with hateful, abusive phone calls and being called socialist, baby-killing maggots by a local DJ. These women have experienced years of Palin policies and fear what they might do to the country.

Historically, religious conservatives have been much more organised, vocal and aggressive than their liberal counterparts. The American Family Association even managed to push Heinz to drop a TV ad that showed two men kissing – even though it was only shown in the UK and not in the US. That's why it's so remarkable that Palin's nomination is bringing out the fighting spirit in women across the political spectrum.

Maybe the result of this cunning move by the McCain camp will have the opposite effect of what was intended. Maybe it will rally the normally complacent to stand up and be counted once they truly realise what's at stake. Judging by the comments on the Women Against Sarah Palin blog, McCain may just have underestimated the integrity of the female population of the US.